Freedom of information response
NATIS
1a) Please state the number of cases investigated by NATIS since 1 January 2020 to the date of this request.
1b) Of these, please state how many involved the suspected defrauding/abuse of Covid support schemes from 1 January 2020 to the date of this request.
1c) Please state the number of these cases investigated by NATIS that resulted in a prosecution.
2) Please state the number of these successful prosecutions that were in relation to the defrauding of Covid support schemes.
3) Please provide a copy of any guidance issued to NATIS staff about their legal powers as investigators, including advice on what the limits of those powers are.
3a) Please provide a copy of NATIS’ organogram.
3b) Please provide the number of staff currently employed by NATIS, and a breakdown of these staff by council pay grade level.
1a) 434 cases were investigated by NATIS
1b) 266 cases involved the suspected defrauding/abuse of Covid support schemes
1c) 6 cases resulted in successful prosecution with a further 18 cases passed to CPS
2) 6 cases resulted in successful prosecution
3) Data is exempt from disclosure under Section 31(1)(a) FOIA. Please see exemption details below.
3a) Data is exempt from disclosure under Section 43(2) FOIA. Please see exemption details below.
3b) There are 98 members of staff working within NATIS department. Second part of the question is exempt from disclosure under Section 43(2) FOIA. Please see exemption details below.
In issuing our response the Council has applied S31(1)(a) Law Enforcement and S43(2) Commercial Interest Exemptions.
S31(1)(a) Law Enforcement Exemption of the Freedom of Information Act.
Information is exempt information if its disclosure under this Act would, or would be likely to prejudice various law enforcement purposes including preventing crime, administering justice, and collecting tax. We are unable to provide the level of detail requested at the current time as we believe that releasing guidance and advise issued to NATIS staff about their legal powers as investigators could potentially invite fraudulent or criminal activity.
The reasons for the application of this exemption have been captured below under the public interest test section.
Public Interest Test:
- Public interest in disclosure:
- There is a public interest in NATIS to operate in a transparent manner. NATIS staff has to follow the correct procedures by applying correct legal powers in order to meet the demand placed upon NATIS. Releasing requested information could be seen as reassurance to the public that NATIS investigators are correctly applying legal powers when investigating fraudulent activities.
- Public interest to maintain the exemption:
- Disclosing the requested information would damage Council's interest as it would impact on NATIS's operational and tactical capabilities to effectively and efficiently carry out investigation of criminal activities.
- Disclosure of information would assist criminals with avoiding detection of criminal activities
- Disclosure of the requested information could compromise law enforcement tactics, which may hinder NATIS's ability to prevent and detect crime and enforce the law and could be detrimental to the effective operation of investigating activities.
- Disclosure of the requested information, no matter how generic, which would assist offenders with their criminal behaviour would undoubtedly be a risk to the safety of the public at large and would lead to a loss of confidence in NATIS' ability to protect the community. There would be an additional impact on police resources and as such the ability to prevent and detect offences if disclosure of the information allowed an increase in offences to take place.
S43(2) Commercial Interest Exemptions of the Freedom of Information Act
Information is exempt information if its disclosure under this Act would, or would be likely to prejudice the commercial interest of NATIS as a department of Thurrock Council. We are unable to provide the level of detail requested at the current time as we believe that releasing NATIS organogram or breakdown of NATIS staff by Council pay grade level is likely to prejudice the commercial interest of NATIS.
The reasons for the application of this exemption have been captured below under the public interest test section.
Public Interest Test:
- Public interest in disclosure:
- There is a public interest in NATIS to operate in a transparent manner. Releasing requested information could be seen as reassurance to the public on how NATIS is structured and whether correct and lawful powers are used by investigating officers during their investigations.
- Public interest to maintain the exemption:
- Disclosing the requested information would damage NATIS's commercial interest as it would impact on NATIS's ability to participate competitively in any future commercial activity as it will disclose to competitors how NATIS is structured and what salary range NATIS officers earn.
- Disclosure of the requested information would weaken NATIS's position to win any other future tenders as the requested information discloses NATIS's structure and methodology used to deliver proposed service.
Based on the above, it is the council's view that there is a stronger public interest to maintain the use of the exemption for section 31(1)(a) and section 43(2) FOIA. The key reasons for this is as follows:
The council feels the factors in favour of withholding the information outweigh those in favour of publication. The greater public interest is served in maintaining the integrity of the justice process, and this in turn favours maintaining the exemption in relation to the withheld material. NATIS will not disclose information that could compromise the future law enforcement role of NATIS or could compromise NATIS's commercial interest.